The present invention relates to egg processing machines and methods and more particularly to an improved egg breaking head and egg breaking method for use on egg breaking machines. There are a variety of automatic egg breaking machines which, in most cases, include a number of individual and indentical egg breaking heads.
Such machines including the egg breaking heads as illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,455,356 and 3,589,419, dated July 15, 1969 and June 29, 1971, respectively. These prior patents illustrate various supports for moving individual egg breaking heads to a loading position and thereafter through cracking, opening and draining positions so that the machine produces a liquid egg at product discharge lines. The above patents illustrate individual egg breaking heads which include cup-shaped or rounded egg support arms and egg clamps which receive and hold the eggs and cooperating knives which operate to crack the egg shells and assist in parting the egg halves for the draining and separation operation.
Prior separating heads use a pair of knives in each head which are mounted adjacent to one another so that one knife engages each of the halves of the egg shell during the egg opening after the egg cracking.
The presence of these prior knives has a useful function in egg shell retention, however, their positioning near or across the lowermost portions of the shell halves tend to dam and to restrict the liquid egg flow. This has now been found to result in an objectionable slow down in drainage particularly in improved breaking machines which are now being operated at higher and higher breaking speeds. This positioning has also been found to result in excess knife penetration in smaller eggs causing yolk drainage as well as knife interference during yolk removal.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an egg breaking machine with improved egg cracking means.
Another object of the invention is to provide an egg breaking machine with an improved cracking head knife arrangement.
Another object of the invention is to provide an egg breaking machine with an improved egg cracking method and means.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved egg cracking means adapted for handling differing size eggs.
Another object of the invention is to provide an egg cracking means for cracking eggs and draining them with a minimum possibility of yolk rupture.
Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiments about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.